Brockovich Firm Files Toxic Fumes Suit

Published 8:00 pm, Friday, July 4, 2003

Erin Brockovich's law firm has added Beverly Hills and the city school district to a suit that claims toxic fumes from an oil well on a Beverly Hills school campus caused 21 former students to get cancer, including three who died.

The students attended the school between 1977 and 1996.

The firm, Masry & Vititoe, filed the negligence and wrongful death suit in June.

A spokesman said the city was unaware of the expanded filing and had no immediate comment. However, city officials have said repeated state and private testing of the air around the school found no evidence to support the allegations.

The suit already named 25 oil and gas companies, including Chevron-Texaco Corp. and the derrick's current operator, Venoco Inc. The rig produces about 450 barrels of oil and 400,000 cubic feet of natural gas a day.

Meanwhile, the city said it would go to court next week to enforce a subpoena seeking documents from Masry & Vititoe. The city claims the firm is withholding environmental and health data it is using to back its claim that there were dangerous air pollution levels at the school.

Attorney Ed Masry said the information is protected by attorney-client privilege.

Brockovich, an investigator with Masry's law firm, rose to prominence when she put together a landmark 1996 water pollution case that won the residents of the small desert town of Hinkley a $333 million settlement from Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

The story of that case was told in the movie "Erin Brockovich," which earned Julia Roberts a best-actress Oscar. Albert Finney played Masry.